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Page 1: file · Web viewAll kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,

"The Heart of Words: Speaking Redemptively"James 3:1-18

Rev. Min J. Chung(Friday Night Large Group, October 6, 2000)

"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig-tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:1-18. NIV

1. Introduction1. "In 1899 four newspaper reporters from Denver, Colorado set out to tear down the Great

Wall of China. They almost succeeded. Literally. The four met by chance on a Saturday night in a Denver railway depot. Al Steves, Jack Tournay, John Lewis, Hal Wilshire. They represented the four Denver papers: the Post, the Times, the Republican, and Rocky Mountain News. Each had been sent by his respective newspaper to dig up a story€any story€for the Sunday editions; so the reporters were in the railroad station, hoping to snag a visiting celebrity should one happen to arrive that evening by train. None arrived that evening, by train or otherwise. The reporters started commiserating. For them, no news was bad news; all were facing empty-handed return trips to their city desks. Al declared he was going to make up a story and hand it in. The other three laughed. Someone suggested they all walk over to the Oxford Hotel and have a beer. They did. Jack said he liked Als idea about faking a story. Why didnt each of them fake a story and get off the hook? John said Jack was thinking too small. Four half-baked fakes didnt cut it. What they needed was one real whopper they could all use. Another round of beers. A phony domestic story would be too easy to check on, so they began discussing foreign angles that would be difficult to verify. China was distant enough, it was agreed. They would write about China. John leaned forward, gesturing dramatically in the dim light of the barroom. Try this one on, he said: Group of American engineers, stopping over in Denver en route to China. The Chinese government is making plans to demolish the Great Wall; our engineers are bidding on the job. Harold was skeptical. Why would the Chinese want to destroy the Great Wall of China? John thought for a moment. Theyre tearing down the ancient boundary to symbolize international goodwill, to welcome foreign trade! Another round of beers. By 11:00 p.m. the four reporters had worked out the details of their preposterous story. After leaving the Oxford Bar, they would go over to the Windsor Hotel. They would sign four fictitious names to the hotel register. They would instruct the desk clerk to tell anyone who asked that four New Yorkers had arrived that evening, had been interviewed by reporters, had left early the next morning for California. The Denver

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newspapers carried the story. All four of them. Front page. In fact, the Times headline that Sunday read: GREAT CHINESE WALL DOOMED! PEKING SEEKS WORLD TRADE! Of course, the story was a phony, a ludicrous fabrication concocted by four capricious newsmen in a hotel bar. But their story was taken seriously, was picked up and expanded by newspapers in the Eastern U.S. and then by newspapers abroad. When the Chinese themselves learned that the Americans were sending a demolition crew to tear down their national monument, most were indignant; some were enraged. Particularly incensed were the members of a secret society, a volatile group of Chinese patriots who were already wary of foreign intervention. They, inspired by the story, exploded, rampaged against the foreign embassies in Peking, and slaughtered hundreds of missionaries. In two months, twelve thousand troops from six countries joined forces, invaded China with the purpose of protecting their own countrymen. The bloodshed which followed, sparked by a journalistic hoax invented in a barroom in Denver, became the white-hot international conflagration known to every high school history student as the Boxer Rebellion."

2. Did you know that the Boxer rebellion was started because of the gossip of four newspapers writers? Can you imagine? Many, many missionaries, thousands of them, were slaughtered in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The power of words! Now, it may happen in a smaller scale, but what we say, what we speak to another about, what we talk about to others, can impact others lives. Words can even kill people. Lets talk about words. As we look into this text, well talk about four things. First, the importance of words. Second, thecontrol of words. Third, the source of words. Fourth, the wisdom of words.

2. Body1. The Importance of Words

1. Verses 1-2 talk about that. Why are words important? It says, "Not many of you should be teachers, because they are judged more strictly." Also, it says in verse 2, "We all stumble in many ways." Even teachers stumble in many ways. "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." It does not say, "You are not supposed to be teachers." It doesnt forbid you to be a teacher, but if you are one, you must be cautious in what you say, what you do and how you live. So there are some assumptions about teachers in this passage. Teachers are to teach Gods truth, because their words will affect many lives. They are also expected to model the truth they teach. Those are some of the assumptions that are in there.

2. So why are words important? Teachers are supposed to be careful about their words. The context of the passage centers on teachers who are to be careful of their words, as they speak the truth. However, in the bigger picture, all of us are in some sense like these "teachers" € we are always taught and we always teach. It all starts in Genesis 1 in the beginning of the history of mankind. God appears and does something Hes never done before € He speaks. He speaks and the whole universe comes into being. It exists. "Let there be light." Pow! It appears! He creates something through His words. He creates by speaking. In

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this manner, God also creates man. And after creating him, He speaks to him: "Conquer, rule and dominate this world as my servant."

3. So we are created to be communicative beings. We hear words and speak them. And they have power. When words are spoken to us, they have power. We have the capacity to listen and to receive words, and then, as communicative beings, we can speak the truth€that itself has power. So we are created to be communicative beings.

4. We are to receive the words of God, the revelation of God. We are to depend on that and obey it. That has to be the guidance for our lives, and after we receive the revelation of God, what happens? We interpret it. We translate it into our lives. We understand and make sense of it because God doesnt spell out every single thing. When God says to me, "Speak the truth, the Word of God," He doesnt tell me exactly how to do that. He doesnt tell me every word Im supposed to speak and how Im supposed to say those words. Am I suppose to speak loudly, softly, with emotion, without it? Is this way of speaking correct; is this way incorrect? He doesnt speak that way. He doesnt tell me how many minutes my message should be, otherwise Id be much more punctual. As He gives me different commands, I interpret those commands and make sense of them in the context of my life, and then finally, applythem to my life. Its part of knowing the will of God, as we talked about last week. We know Gods will by the wisdom of His Word and then desire change takes place. We want to do everything in our lives because we love God. Whatever we think is within the guidelines of Scripture becomes our desire. We interpret the Word of God. So we receive it, interpret it then apply it to our lives. Oftentimes we hear Gods words € bits and pieces of it € and make sense of them as we live our lives.

5. Little kids do that. Parents cannot teach every single thing to their children. But you know what? Its easy for me to think when theyre learning how to walk, My kids are so stupid. What am I going to do? I have to teach them everything! These guys dont even know how to talk or understand this word! So I feel like I have to teach them everything. But you know? I think about how many things I have taught them. I havent taught them that much. I might have taught them more than some other parents, possibly, but how many things have I really taught them with my words? Not that many. But you know what? They get bits and pieces of information throughout their lives, make sense of it, interpret it, translate it into their lives, and they live. Thats how we are. We are communicative beings. We receive revelation about certain things, make sense of it and live.

6. The Bible tells us that there are two kinds of lifestyles. Proverbs says that there are two distinct ways of life€a life of wisdom and a life of folly. You can live wisely or you can live foolishly. It speaks of Gods wisdom versus the worlds wisdom. In everything and in every moment we live, we receive some kind of message. We interpret it. Sometimes we receive wise messages and sometimes we receives foolish ones. We receive messages every single moment of our lives, through things that are said and not said. Sometimes, we receive messages when we observe people as well as through other things. For example, when parents

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fight in the kitchen and lash out in anger at one another, their kids pick up the message. They learn something through it and make sense out of life. "Oh, this is what I ought to do when I get into conflict, when I trouble arises. This is how I solve my conflict." They receive some kind of message. Then they interpret it and emulate it in their lives. When you are in a sports arena, what kinds of things are happening, what kind of things are said? We receive messages anywhere and anytime. We may be taught good or bad things.

7. We can either discern wisely or foolishly receive the wrong messages. When you receive information in a classroom, its the same thing. You are taught ways of wisdom just as you are taught ways of folly. When we watch certain commercials on TV, it says €"Just do it. Obey your thirst." But, the Bible says, "Deny your desires." We receive messages. Things are taught. We agree with those things. As you read the Bible, if you do not relate what it says to your everyday life, your every decision, you will be taught the wrong things. Let me ask you, who is your teacher? What are your thoughts like? Where did you get those thoughts? What is your life philosophy? Why do you do the things you do? What are some of the basic principles in your life? Words are important because we are spiritual beings. We are made to be taught by God and others, whether it is good or bad, wise or foolish. Whether we like it or not, we teach others and influence them through those words. We are teachers and we have teachers. Especially, if youre going to be a teacher by official position, you need to be careful about what you teach and how you teach it. Oh, the importance of words!

2. The Control of Words1. We are either teachers who teach the right or wrong things, or students who are

taught either the right or wrong things. But especially in the roles as teachers, we need to control our words. We have a responsibility as spiritual beings to control our words. Verses 3-7 talk about that. Look at the key phrase in verse 2: "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." Thats the key phrase that opens up the next five verses. "He is able to keep his whole body in check." What is that talking about? Self-control. If youre teaching and influencing others, you need to have self-control. Verses 3-7 say that if you can control your tongue, you can control everything else about yourself. If you cant control your tongue, you cant control anything else. The tongue is one of the most active parts of your body. If you can control your tongue, which represents you and communicates whats in your mind, you can control everything else.

2. Three pictures are given starting in verse 3. First, the word "bit" Its that thing in the mouths of horses to control them. The second picture is of a rudder controlling a ship. Finally in verse 6, it is a picture of a spark setting a whole forest to fire. Whats the point? As long as you have a bit that controls the mouth of a horse, you can control the whole horse. If youre riding a horse, all you have to do is control the mouth of the horse and you can control the whole body. Similarly, if you control the rudder of a ship, you control the direction of the whole ship. Its the same with a spark in a forest. If you can put out that little

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spark, you can control whether the whole forest fire will be set on fire. You can stop the destructive influence of a spark that can potentially start a forest fire. What is the point? You see, if you have self-control over your tongue, what Luther calls "that little piece of flesh that exists between your jaws," you will also have control over yourself and everything you do. If you have control over your tongue, you will be able to stop the destructive influences over your life. Do you have self-control over your tongue? Can you control it?

3. Look at verse 7: "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man." You can tame animals. The people who work for that circus, that "Ring, Ring, Barnum Circus," or whatever that is, they control animals. Look at verse 8: "but no man can tame the tongue." That same person who can control all kinds of animals is not able to control his tongue. Whats the point? You may be able to control animals and even other people, but no man can completely control their tongue. The Bible says its impossible to control a sinful tongue. Its impossible! But you need to control it as best as you can.

4. The importance of words. We are spiritual beings, we are taught, we teach others, and to teach others and influence them, we need to have self-control so we can positively influence others. How can we control our tongue? To answer that, we will talk about the source of words.

3. The Source of Words1. Verses 9-12 talk about this. What is the source of our words? "With the tongue

we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness." So we can praise God at one moment and with the same tongue at another moment we can curse men. What is the source of that? Verse 10 says, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." Then verse 11: "Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" Can fresh water and salt water both come out of the same spring? It talks about a difference in sources.

2. Then James gives another picture: "My brothers, can a fig-tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." So the same root cannot bear figs as well as olives or grapes as well as figs. One root cannot bear two different fruits. What is the point? Praising comes from one source and cursing comes from a different source. There are two sources.

3. Then verses 13-18 talk about two kinds of wisdom. Its very related to the previous passage. Wisdom is a way of life, which speaking is a part of. There is a lifestyle of cursing and there is a lifestyle of praising. What is the source? Look at verse 14, "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth." So out of the nature of your heart, which is expressed through your desires, comes a way of life € a praising way of life or a cursing way of life, of which speaking is a part. So I think its connected there. You can have two kinds of lifestyles, one that speaks words that curse and one that speaks words that praise.

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4. Another proof is in verse 6. James paints another picture. "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by (what? What is something that sets a tongue on fire?) hell." What is James thinking about when he says the word hell? The word literally means gehenna, which in the New Testament was avalley outside of Jerusalem used as a garbage dump. This valley was where all the junk resided; the filth of the city was accumulated there. To manage this filth, it was set on fire. So what does it mean? I think, hell (gehenna), the garbage dump, with all the filth, is the HEART. Our heart is where all the filth accumulates. Our words, whether they are good or bad, come out of the heart. If our lifestyle is filthy, our words will be as well. If our lifestyle comes from the Lord, our words will be good! Its about the heart.

5. In Mark 7:20, Jesus says the same thing. "What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean." What makes a man unclean? What comes out of his heart, thatgehenna, that garbage dump of a heart. Its in the heart that the sinful nature resides. He goes on, "For from within, out of mens hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, "greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean." Soour evil desires reside in our hearts, and as we speak and live in evil ways, we become more and more unclean. There is a root of evil in our hearts.

6. The whole book of James is about that. James gives a lot of dos and donts. A lot of people misunderstand the book of James because of this. To James, dos and donts are from the heart. James is a book on the heart. Look at James 1:13-15, please. Hes talking about temptation. "When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (when you are tempted, do you know why?) but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire(that garbage dump, filthy desires within), he is dragged away and enticed. (you want it. You want to sin, thats why! Then what happens is verse 15?) Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; (desire is the mother of behavior) and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." James is saying that you sin because you want to.You sin because of the evil desires within you. There is a great load of evil desires in the garbage dump of your heart. Thats why in chapter 3, it talks about words andwisdom and heart and then in chapter 4 it talks about repentance. It talks about changing of desires, bringing our hearts to God so we would not have adulterous desires. We love this world and we love sin but we ask for a heart that loves God like a pure brides desire.

7. James is not talking about achieving salvation THROUGH works, but aboutachieved salvation THAT works!!! Indeed, if you are not saved, only evil desires that you are born with exists within. Even though you might do good thingsexternally , the intentions and the motives in your heart is for yourself and your self-exaltation. After you become a Christian though, God gives you a rival desire. Poof! Now you want to please and worship God. If youre saved, there is a

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rival desire in your heart and its going to work; its going to bear fruit. Slowly but surely that rival desire will give you self-control as you eat the Word of God and as you pray. Control your tongue! and slowly but surely you will not want to sin, but to praise and worship God! Salvation brings about desire implantation. Boom! There is a desire planted within us to praise and worship God. Praise God!!! So either you praise, which is the Spirits desire, or you curse, which comes from your evil desires. What are some ways in which these evil desires are manifested? You want popularity for yourself, to spread your name. You want respect, to be worshiped. You want love, to be accepted and loved by certain people with all their heart, mind and soul. You might even be jealous if they love God or others more than yourself. Or you want perfectionism, to live for your own standard. However, when the Holy Spirit comes, He gives you self-control through a rival desire. So when you talk, it expresses that. If your heart is void of this rival Holy Spirit desire, no matter how nice you say things, you are saying it for yourself, to exalt yourself and not God. If our speaking is void of the redemptive work of the Spirit in your heart, you cannot edify other people.

4. The Wisdom of Words5. So verses 13-17 talk about two kinds of wisdom of which speaking is a part. Bad wisdom

gives rise to bitter envy, selfish ambition and all these things which come from your heart. We will focus today on verse 17. It mentions eight kinds of wisdom and lifestyles. We can replace wisdom with words in verse 17: "But the wisdom (the words), that comes from heaven is first of all pure." Are our words pure? Are our words peace-loving? Are our words considerate? Are our words submissive? Are our words full of mercy and good fruit? Are they impartial and sincere? We can check our words like that. How can we speak the way God wants us to? In wisdom.

1. Pure1. Are your words pure? What does that mean? Pure means undefiled,

unmixed. What does that mean? Unmixed in your desires. Unmixed in your motive. Is what you say really to exalt Christ and edify people or is it to exalt yourself? What is your motive as you say certain things?

2. You might say, "I care about my roommate and I gotta say this or theyre not gonna learn to be a good roommate to others, to be a good Christian," but if you are saying it harshly you should ask yourself, "What is your intention and motive?" Why are you so emotional and angry as you say it? Perhaps it is because youre mixed rather than unmixed in your emotions. Are your words pure? Is your intention truly to praise God and love people?

2. Peace-loving1. If youre peace-loving, it is for the edification of others, for the peace.

But a lot of times we want to exalt ourselves, so what do we do? We become jealous. Are your words jealous? Are they out of envy? Are they to cut down others? Or are they to edify others for the glory of God? Because when you are jealous of someone, its not just that you dont like

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something in that person. You say things not only to put them down but the ultimate aim is to exalt yourself. Are your words peace-loving?

2. Let me say this. Whenever you dont like something about a person, maybe you have the same desire as that person. For example, one person may say, "Im so pretty. Im so good-looking. I look so good today." You hear them and something turns inside of you. Maybe just as that person desires to be exalted by looking the best, maybe you desire that as well. You know, there is only one throne in a palace. If that person wants to sit there and you dont like itmaybe you have the same desire to sit on that throne! Think about sports events. There is only one trophy. So you fight. You get angry. Why? Because maybe you have the same desire. Two kids fight, why? They want the sametoy. Are you peace-loving? Is it to edify others?

3. Peace-loving people gossip in a good way. There is both good and bad gossip. Bad gossips intention and motive is to put others down so you can be exalted.Good gossip somehow exalts and edifies others. Say there are two people who dont have a good relationship. If you go to one of them and say, "You know, that person said all these good things about you." Dont lie, but if you tell them what that person really said, the next time they see the other person, theyre going to be so glad to see him. Good gossip. As you talk about others, are you peace-loving?

4. Be careful not only of the content, but the tone. You may be saying that a person is nice, but in a negative tone. You might give subtle insinuations. You might intentionally leave out some important information. What is your intention and motive? Are you a peace-loving person?

3. Considerate1. Its hard to translate this word, but it describes a person, who though

wronged and possesses the right to retaliate, forgoes his right. That kind of person is considerate. In John 8, people have trapped an adulterous woman and they want to stone her. So Jesus says, "Whoever has no sin, stone her." And nobody does. One by one, from the oldest to the youngest, because they realize their sin and that they have something to be guilty about, they start to leave. Now, Jesus had the right to stone her. Hes the only one who had the right because shes the sinner and Hes the holy God. But He says, "I will not stone you. I will not condemn you. But go and sin no more." He forgoes His right and speaks considerate words to her. Sometimes we have the right to retaliate. Some people have wronged us. Sometimes when youre driving, some people deserve a honk. You honk at them, with an attitude. Sometimes when you confront someone who has gossiped about you, you can say it to edify that person, or you can say it to destroy that person or to express your anger at that person. You may have the right, but if you are considerate, you forgo your rights.

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4. Submissive1. Are your words submissive? The word means open to persuasion and

reason. Sometimes people say things and they are wrong and they can never admit it. Its the opposite of that kind of stubbornness, being obstinate. When Samuel came to Saul after he sinned. He was stubborn; he denied it. "Yeah, Im wrong," but he was giving all kinds of excuses. Whereas Nathan comes to David and he completely acknowledges it. He was totally open to reason. And he acknowledged his sin. "Yes, I have sinned before God." Are you the kind of person who is always argumentative? Or are you submissive? Are you under the submission of the Bible? What do you do when someone argues with you about your behavior € what you do and say, your intention and motive, your behavior, based on the Bible? "You know, look at this in the Bible and look at yourself." Whether you are older, a leader, have a position or not, if someone argues based on the Bible and you are proven wrong, will you say, "You are right. I have sinned, like David." Are you submissive to reason, especially biblical reason?

5. Full of Mercy1. Are your words merciful? It talks of being compassionate. Your words

are filled with compassion, encouragement and love. Are your words like that? It comes from the heart. This boy said to his dad, "Father, lets play darts." The father said, "OK." The boy said, "This is how well play. Ill throw and you say, Wonderful." Thats what you say if your words are full of mercy. I remember reading a Readers Digest article. One day this lady bought a little dog, she opened the door and the dog had brought her the newspaper. She said, "Wow! Fantastic!" So she gives him some biscuits. The next day she opened the door and the dog was right there with eight newspapers from many different houses. It took the whole morning for her to put the newspapers back. Words are like that. They have that kind of power. Merciful, kind, loving words, have the power to influence others. If people do good things, encourage them so they will continue in their good deeds. Are your words full of mercy? When they are, something about it touches the hearts of people. If your heart is fully of mercy, your words will be, too.

6. Good Fruit1. It flows right out of the previous point. If you are full of mercy, there

will be good fruit. Mercy is what is in the heart and good fruit are the actions€what flows out of it. Compassion in action. It can change lives.

2. I was remembering something. One of these days Ill talk about the heart of memory. Memory is amazing. Its intentionally selective. You only remember what is important to you. You dont just remember random things. You only remember something if it is really important in your heart, especially your heart motive. You only remember things related to your heart motive. I remember two incidents from my childhood. I

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remember things that were so insignificant at the time, a few sentences or words. One was about this kind uncle-ish person, this college student who was around when I was a boy. We went on a family vacation to the ocean. I was maybe in first grade, seven years old or something. I grew up in a Korean family and in Asian society you dont easily hear encouraging words. I remember playing soccer and this uncle said, "Wow, that was a good kick!" It was just a dumb kick, if I think back on it. But he said those kind words, and there was something about those simple words that had an atom bomb effect in my heart. Also, I remember on the way back from somewhere, we were driving back home. Then our bus, it was some kind of Greyhound (it wasnt Greyhound because they dont have that in Korea), a Greyhound-ish bus, stopped for a bathroom break. I remember on the way to the bathroom, I was looking around this shop and there was this uncle who stopped and said, "Hey, do you want some cake?" He was buying some cake for himself but he asked me, "Do you want some?" There was something about that phrase, "Do you want some cake?" Was I hungry? No! Do I remember what brand of cake it was? No. That is all unimportant information. I remember whatever relates to my heart motive. What he said really got to my heart. "Do you want some cake?" I remember it. He said it with such warmth and love and care and concern that I will never forget that sentence. Im not sure if he was a Christian. If I remember it until now, those words that brought such warmth, I think those words were full of mercy which bore good fruit in my life.

3. Another time I remember going to Willowcreek Church. Sometimes I visit the church when Im in Chicago. Its one of the biggest churches in North America, and I go there for Wednesday service sometimes. They have a welcoming committee just like at our church. I remember walking in one time with someone and this lady, forty-ish with blond hair, greeted us. She was so happy. The music had started and she was worshiping. She said, "Welcome." I spent maybe an hour and a half in that church. I dont remember a thing. I dont remember the message. But I remember that welcome. I think because she was full of the Spirit, so full of mercy and kindness and love, and when she spoke it had an atom bomb effect in my heart. It was a supernatural welcome. (Welcoming committee, are you motivated now?) How many of us remember the welcoming committees, "Hello, how are you doing today?"Youre going to remember the words of whoever was filled with the Spirit of God.

4. You see, if you flatter people, they might not believe you. If you criticizepeople, they might not like you. If you ignore people, they might not forgiveyou. If you encourage people, they will never forget you. Encourage people with supernatural hellos and welcomes in your life!

7. Impartial

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1. It means unwavering. Circumstances do not waver you. An impartial person isa person of fixed principle. We are partial people. You are nicer to whoever you like (which means, whoever feeds your heart motive). There are a lot of guys who a lot of ladies know and complain about. "Whenever that guy talks to females (who are better looking in his eyes), his words suddenly change. His voice gets thicker." "How are you doing?" There are also some ladies like that. Whenever certain males are around, her voice becomes lighter, softer, breathier. "Hello." Others do that around people with a position, or people who are good at music or who are athletic or something similar. Check your motive!! Can you say supernatural hellos to every single person, independent of circumstances? It doesnt matter whos in front of you. You love, not because theyre going to love you back, but because you are loving. Because God is loving and you want to emulate His character. Whether male or female, with a title or not, adult or child, whether they can give you something or not, whether they give you respect or not, you are consistent and impartial. You are not run by your desires, the Evil One. You are run by the Sprits desire.

2. Sometimes it is difficult for me. As an example, as I meet a lot of you, I do not always feel internally consistent. If I receive respect from you, I tell you right now, I am more apt to talk with you. I want to talk a little bit more, because my heart is evil. But you know, I have to fight that. God knows that I have tried to be consistent in meeting every single one of you. It doesnt matter whos sitting in front of me or when I meet them. Sometimes Im tired and sometimes Im not. When Im not tired, when I drink more coffee, Im more alive. But after a Chinese meal, oh my! The heaviest things in this earth are my eyelids. But you know, I have to be consistent. God knows I have tried. I try my best becausewhoever is sitting in front of me is someone that Jesus died for. That person bears the image of God. And this moment, this one hour or minute, this one sentence can change that persons life. God knows I have been inconsistent but I have tried and will continue to try my best. Are you impartial? Is there favoritism in your treatment of other people. How do you say what you say? How do you talk. Are you impartial in your content, in your insinuation, in your tone?

8. Sincere1. Basically it means without hypocrisy, without a mask, simple honesty.

Are you sincere in your words? Or are you given to exaggeration? You might say the right content but with a little exaggeration. Or you might purposely hide information. Are you sincere? It all comes out of your heart. Be careful of whatyou say. Be careful of how you say it. Be careful of why you say it. Be careful of who you are saying it to. Be careful of when you say it. Be careful of whereyou say it, because even if you talk in secret, birds will hear. Theyll fly to someones window and chirp it. Be

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careful in what you say, why you say it,who you are saying it to, when you say it, where you say it.

2. Learn to speak redemptively. Your words can free people from their sinful desires so that they can have godly desires! They can be freed from the slavery of sin. Redemption. They can be freed from the slavery of sin in their hearts, freed to love God and serve God€their lives can be changed. Learn to speak redemptively. Our words have power because souls are communicative beings. God can use your words to speak to their souls and their lives will never be the same again. What is the key? The heart.

3. One of Aesops Fable is about a donkey that found a lions skin. He wears it and starts to go around roaring. He scares all the animals. Everyone is scared except for one fox. Hes smart. The donkey roars. Hes trying to scare him but hes not scared. The fox looks at him and says, "If you want to scare me youll have to disguise your bray." The point is this: Clothes may disguise a fool but his words will give him away. No matter what you say, if your heart is not a lion, youll only be a donkey to people; if you dont have "the heart of lion" you cant fool people ultimately. No matter how you try to fool people with your external, hypocritical faces and masks, whenever you start to speak, people will know youre only a donkey. Change your heart. Then you can speak redemptively and peoples lives can be changed. All Gods people said, Amen.

3. Conclusion1. Think about all of your relationships with others. The biggest aspect of our connection

with people, with anyone we live with in the world are our words. How we speak, what we say.We might not have forty minutes to present the gospel but we have one second to say, "Hi." Will your "Hi" be remembered? Will your hellos be remembered? Will they be implanted in that persons heart? Because what makes those words lovingly sharp and penetrating to the hardest of hearts is the power of the Spirit of God in your own heart. It comes through your desire to love God and people. If those words are full of mercy, they will go into the hearts of people. They will penetrate into their minds and hearts and that love will be remembered for perhaps twenty, thirty, forty years. What we say is important. But why we say it and how we say it is more important at times because it can give power to what we say and it can influence peoples lives.

2. We are to speak redemptively in this world. Every moving human being is a communicative being with the capacity to listen to God. Speak redemptively, saints of God. Utilize every opportunity you have to say hellos with love. It will have power in peoples lives. To do that our hearts must be changed and our ears must hear the Word of God. He is speaking to us, to everything in this universe until the glory of God fills the earth. To those who have ears, let him hear what the Spirit of God says the church. He is speaking to us. We need to hear with our hearts. We need to be teachable people, listening to the Word of God. And when we listen to him, we change. Oh, we change!Changed hearts will change lives!!! So lets pray. Lets pray that God will change our

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hearts. From the root of our hearts come fruitful words that will transform others to be redeemed from the slavery of sin and into the Spirit of Christ. Lets pray to the Lord that He will change our hearts.

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